


Be My Special-Steady

by flippednique



Category: Prince of Stride: Alternative (Anime)
Genre: Couple Shirt, M/M, Remake of Episode Seven
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-03
Updated: 2016-04-03
Packaged: 2018-05-30 23:49:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,371
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6447094
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flippednique/pseuds/flippednique
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The one where Takeru develops feelings for Reiji and that's alright.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Be My Special-Steady

 

**One: Swayed**

 

“ **ARE YOU GOING** for a run?” Reiji was smiling at him, his violet eyes gleaming with that same shine Takeru saw during their first race. He was wearing a yukata, clearly having just rolled out of bed. His usually immaculately tamed hair was sticking out at some odd places, looking like dandelion fluff. It was cute. 

Takeru offered the Saisei captain a nod of his head. “We don’t leave until after noon.” 

Reiji’s head tilted to the left ever so slightly. “Would it be alright if I joined you?” 

“I do not mind. You can show me around your usual route.” 

“That sounds like a good idea.” Reiji stepped back into his room, hand poised on the wooden door. “Give me two minutes.” 

Takeru paused when the door closed. He took in a deep breath and willed the slight tendrils of heavy jealousy away. Saisei had provided rooms for them to stay in, and it was a shock to hear that some students actually stayed at the school as part of their training programs. They provided boarding so that they wouldn’t have to worry about coming home too late, or getting to school too early. Their training was entirely their own to adjust and modify to their own tastes, standards, and capabilities. 

Not to mention that highly monitored diet. Of course he didn’t truly trust anyone with the food he ate. That was what he studied Nutrition for. 

Still, transferring was sounding better and better with each minute. Deep in his heart though, Takeru knew he wouldn’t really do anything so drastic. He came to Honan for a very good reason, he came for a promise… 

The door in front of him opened, dragging him out of his thoughts, and Reiji was still smiling at him, his hair was neater now. “I hope I didn’t take too long.” 

“Not at all.” Because it didn’t feel like he’d waited at all. 

Reiji hummed and started walking. “You wake up pretty early to go running. Do you usually run with a partner?” 

“No.” 

“Do you mind that I’ll be running with you?” 

“No.” 

“Do you usually time yourself on your morning run?”

“No.” 

“You don’t talk very much, do you?” 

Takeru gave the violet-head a look. “No.” 

Reiji let out bubbly laughter. Takeru noted that it was a laugh that he would expect from someone like Reiji. Smooth, like music notes, and yet it was also… controlled. There was something in Reiji’s expression that made it seem like that laugh wasn’t quite enough. He had an energy that he kept very low-key. He was happy, excited even, to be on this run with Takeru which the first year found very odd. Although he was also excited, he loved running.  

The third year’s eyes were still smiling at him when they stopped their short walk from the rooms to the ground floor. He stretched in place, first his legs, then his arms, then his head, before he gave Takeru a look and said, “Follow me.” 

And follow he did. 

* * *

“And what exactly has the wind-machine done to you?” Reiji asked him as he fiddled with the buttons on the panel beside the machine. The large fans immediately set to a high began swinging, the air current growing stronger with every second.

Takeru eyed the belt with distaste, before he decided it could hold all five stride players, even if they were running side by side. He raced against the pre-set wind to join Reiji halfway on the belt. From the ease of the violet-head’s jogging, this was clearly a low setting for him. 

Unlike Takeru who had nearly been dragged down the conveyor belt yesterday, when Riku and Asuma thought it would be funny to blast it on full-speed, when Takeru had been busily ogling the room’s other equipment. 

“Did you fall off?” 

Takeru kept his gaze straight ahead. “Yes.” 

“So did I. My first time was horrible. I couldn’t even look at the fan, it hurt my eyes so bad. The next few times weren’t any better. Shizuma had to get me air goggles… although I did quite like how they made me look.” 

Reiji shrugged his shoulders at him when the ravenhead gave him a look of disbelief. 

“They probably have pictures.” 

Takeru did not hesitate. “I would like to see them as proof.” 

Reiji laughed, again, and shook his head. “You are unlike any other person I’ve ever met.” 

A voice up in the gallery called down to them, “Is that a confession Reiji-san?!”

Reiji startled beside him, clearly not noticing Tasuku’s presence, and lost his footing. He fell off the conveyor belt, clutching his side with a slight frown. 

“Reiji-san!” Tasuku rushed to him- bypassing the stairs and leaping down from the gallery. He helped him up, fussing, apologizing all the while looking like someone’s puppy who’d just gotten kicked. 

Takeru slowed down to a jog near the back of the conveyor belt before jumping off of it. He observed the third-year, unsure of what he could do to help. Reiji was biting on his bottom lip, tears shining in his violet eyes. 

“That looked like a serious fall.” 

“Yeah…” Reiji leaned into Tasuku as he stood. He gave the wind-machine the same look of distaste that Takeru was sure had been on his face not five minutes ago. Then he sent Takeru a meaningful look. “I share your feelings.” 

Takeru nodded at that, because he sympathized, both figuratively and literally. He was a bit unsettled by the absolutely betrayed looked that had crossed Tasuku’s face for a second, before it was schooled into a more stoic expression. Perhaps he had never fallen off of the wind-machine, and therefore loved it a lot. 

Tasuku set to getting Reiji to the infirmary, and had asked Takeru if he wanted to come with an air almost as if he were heading to battle. Takeru declined, wanting to meet up with the rest of the Honan Striders, but he had asked to be notified on Reiji’s well-being. 

“I’ll be fine.” Reiji assured him.

Takeru thought back on Reiji’s unshed tears of pain when he’d fallen. 

“If it’s all the same,” Takeru bowed. “I would like to know.”

For the first time that day, a look of shock crossed Reiji’s face, and while Tasuku lead him out of the training room, Takeru wished he was back to all that smiling. 

He liked Reiji’s smile. 

* * *

“Thank you for having us!” Takeru straightened from his bow and eyed the Saisei captain intently.

Reiji was back in his track-suit, the visit to the infirmary hadn’t taken long at all. He was also smiling again. 

“Are you sure you’re fine?” 

“Falls happen all the time.” Reiji jumped a bit in front of him, landing without so much as a wince. “I was just really surprised when I fell, I think. It made the pain hurt twice as much.” 

“Your fall surprised me.” Takeru confessed. “You aren’t clumsy at all, and you had a stable pace… Do you get into accidents often? It doesn’t seem like you.”

A slight flush covered Reiji’s cheeks and he rubbed the back of his head in a display of rare embarrassment. “Yeah, that was really something. I’m usually a lot more focused during a race and even training, but today I woke up earlier than I usually do so I may have been a little out of it while we were on the wind machine.” 

“You woke up early?” Takeru frowned, noticeably this time. “You did not have to run with me.” 

Reiji gave him a startled look that melted into one of sincerity. “I **wanted** to run with you, Fujiwara-kun.” 

_ Ba-dump.  _

Takeru was gifted with another of Reiji’s smiles, and this time it came with a nicely wrapped parcel. He accepted it with an air of confusion. 

“Open it.” 

Takeru tore on the wrapping paper. He eyed the blue shirt with a raised brow, looking at Reiji for an explanation. 

The Saisei captain unzipped his tracksuit, flashing Takeru a pink shirt that looked like his. “We match now.” 

“I see…” Takeru carefully tucked the shirt into his bag. “Thank you.” 

“Take care of it, and yourself.” Reiji tucked his hands into his pockets. “I’d like to see you run during EOS, okay?” 

“And we’ll win.” 

Reiji’s only response was to laugh, but it was cut short when Azuma wrapped an arm around his shoulders, whisking him away from Takeru and Honan. 

“Sorry about this guys but we have a performance in a couple of hours and we have to get some rehearsal time in.” 

The two stride clubs exchanged a few more words but all Takeru could really focus on was Reiji, who gave him a look as he was being pulled away by his teammates. 

Takeru offered a wave, before Gala Stand disappeared into their bus, and he appreciated that Reiji waved back. 

* * *

“And the bakery just keeps making more Yakisoba bread since everyone in Saisei seems to be getting into it. Can you imagine having to deliver that as soon as it’s baked so that it can get to them warm? Asuma says it’s Reiji-san’s fault because he likes it a lot. Monkey-see-monkey-do, yeah, I think that's what he said.”

Takeru looked away from the photographer and at Riku who was rambling to the side. “It means-.”

“I know what it means!” The brunet insisted. Riku puffed his cheeks out. “Asuma said they’re just copying Gala Stand, but hey, anybody who sees people eating good food would want to try it out too, so I don’t really mind it.” 

“You’ve been talking to Asuma-san a lot.” Takeru noted, pausing as he turned to face the side so the photographer could get him from another angle. It was a bit hard, posing in a yukata that was a little more flamboyant than he was used to. 

Riku crossed his arms, his own yukata dragging them slightly. “Speak for yourself Fujiawara. I’m not the one sharing matching shirts with Gala Stand’s lead singer.”

Takeru paused, remembering that he’d worn that shirt to the shoot today, and was sure he’d safely stowed it into the locker he’d been given since he’d started to become a regular model. 

Riku gave him a very satisfied smirk, and he even waggled his eyebrows. “Shocked speechless, huh? Were you hoping to keep it a secret?” 

Takeru glanced at the photographer who was going through the pictures they’d manage to take so far. “I don’t think it really matters. It’s a very nice shirt.” 

“And I heard there’s only two in the world.” Riku cackled. “Well, that’s what the fans are saying. The design on it was made for Reiji-kun by a fan and two weeks ago, he’d asked for another one to be made, this time in _blue_. Apparently it suits you.” 

_ Ba-dump.  _

“You cannot be serious.” 

“Dead serious, Fujiwara.” Riku shrugged carelessly. “Rumor has it that Reiji-kun likes you. And trust me, I have a reliable source.” 

“He is a kind person, Yagami.” Takeru countered, trying very hard not to move in his almost suffocating yukata. It almost felt like a kimono at this point, there were so many layers.. “I don’t think a shirt means all that much. I could give you a shirt for your birthday, nobody would make a big deal out of it.” 

“But it wasn’t your birthday.” Riku paused. “It _wasn’t_ your birthday, right?” 

Takeru shook his head. 

“Good. And did you miss that bit where I said  _ no other shirt like it exists in the world _ ?” Riku’s eyes were gleaming, his tone teasing. “You and Reiji-kun own matching shirts that no one else will ever have. And he thinks you look good in blue. Prolly cause of your eyes!” 

“You look at my eyes?” Takeru raised a brow, losing the look when the flash momentarily blinds him.

A red flush covers Riku’s face. “I don’t! Stop changing the topic! You like Reiji-kun! Admit it!” 

Takeru took a moment to pay attention to the photographer, offering an actual smile since he promised he’d smile for this one. And he liked Sugawara-san. He was a really nice photographer. 

“I think I’ve got it, Fujiwara-kun.” Sugawara clicked on his camera. “You can step off now. Yagami-kun, I’m ready for you!” 

Takeru and Riku switched places. In the middle of Riku’s shoot where he was trying to make an umbrella prop work with him, Takeru came to a decision. 

“I like Suwa-san.” 

_ Ba-dump _ .

That didn’t sound wrong at all. 

* * *

EOS was over but they decided to have a joint practice anyways.

“Honan doesn’t exactly have the facilities or equipment that you do, but we’ve got spirit and enthusiasm in spades.” Heath was saying. “How about a little race?” 

Takeru found himself being swept away in a flurry of orders, rules, and routes before he was standing at the last leg of the race, staring blankly at the wall beside him. 

_ Ba-dump.  _

“Fujiwara-kun?” 

_ Ba-dump.  _

“I see you still don’t talk to your competitors before the race.” 

_ Ba-dump.  _

“Riku-kun tells me you wear the shirt to school sometimes.” 

_ Ba-dump. _

“I’m glad.” 

Takeru glanced at his side, and felt his heart speed up at the small pleased smile on the violet-head’s face. His eyes were shining again, with that same sense of happiness. 

“Let’s have a good race.” Reiji gave him a playful shrug of his shoulders. Comfortably at ease. 

Takeru nodded stiffly. Getting down to position as Nana’s voice told him to. Reiji was down beside him, his head lowered. 

_ Ba-dump.  _

_ “Three…" _

Takeru felt his heart beat as if it wanted to drum right otu of his chest, was this nerves? Odd. That’s never happened before a race. 

Reiji's voice reached him in his confusion, “I’ll be sure to win.”

_ "... two…" _

Takeru swallowed a lump in his throat. He had never been so easily swayed, but for now he felt as if…

_ "... one…”  _

“Reiji-kun...” 

Violet eyes widened, in the same look of shock that they had back in Saisei. 

_“Go!”_  
  
Takeru ran, and not just because he was in a race, but because he may have just done the stupidest thing in the whole world. 

_"I'll be sure to win."_

_"Reiji-kun... you already have."_

 

 

**Author's Note:**

>  **AN** : So I have just recently watched all of the POSA episodes and can I just say that I love Reiji so much! Like, he's violet all over and he's just perfect. Srsly bru, this guy needs love. He's too good to be real [which he isn't ( T _ T )] and he and Takeru just... I SHIP THEM SO BAD GUYTH. 
> 
> Anywho, I was a little sad that there aren't many fics about them so I decided to write about them. Despite not having written anything that isn't school related, I give you this~! 
> 
> Watching Episode 7 and seeing the shirts just ASDFJKL; Anyone with me? And Reiji's shirt is PINK! PINK! Precious bby. 
> 
> I'm looking forward to writing more about these dorks- which honestly can be a little hard because Reiji talks so calmly and controlled, almost calculated while Takeru doesn't talk at all. Dialogue is so awkward and I'm pretty sure stories will be short. Ah well, I'll have to do my best to work with their characters. I think they go well together. 
> 
> Leave a comment below please! Would totally love to hear from you!
> 
>  
> 
> **Nique ******


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